Engineering Manager / Director

An opportunity to shape and lead an engineering function within a major industrial environment.

We are seeking an experienced engineering leader to take ownership of engineering capability, resource planning and technical standards across multiple sites in UAE.

This is a senior leadership appointment for someone who understands that effective engineering is about more than delivering individual projects. It requires the right systems, disciplined resource management, consistent technical standards and a culture where accountability and performance are central to how the function operates.

The successful candidate will play a key role in strengthening engineering processes, improving productivity and ensuring engineering resources are deployed effectively across a varied project portfolio.

Reporting to senior leadership, you will lead the engineering function, working closely with project management, estimation, procurement, fabrication, site operations and quality teams.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading and developing a multi-disciplinary engineering team, including Engineering Managers and technical leads.
• Overseeing engineering resource planning, workload forecasting and allocation across multiple projects and sites.
• Establishing performance KPIs, engineering productivity measures, manhour norms and structured reporting systems.
• Driving consistent engineering procedures, technical standards, design reviews and document control processes.
• Improving engineering utilisation, efficiency and delivery performance without compromising technical quality or compliance.
• Evaluating engineering capacity and determining the appropriate balance between in-house resources and subcontracted services.
• Driving accountability, addressing performance gaps and developing a high-performance engineering culture.
• Improving coordination between engineering, estimation, procurement, fabrication, project management and site teams.
• Identifying opportunities for standardisation, automation, digitalisation and value engineering to reduce rework and improve overall efficiency.
• Ensuring engineering deliverables comply with applicable international codes, customer requirements and quality standards.

We are looking for a degree-qualified engineer with at least 15 years of relevant experience gained within a heavy industrial, EPC, fabrication, manufacturing or engineered-products environment.

You should bring:

• A strong track record of leading an engineering department or function, rather than exclusively managing individual projects.
• Experience overseeing engineering resource allocation, workload planning, productivity and performance management.
• A solid understanding of engineering standards, technical governance, design validation and document control.
• The commercial judgement to assess resource requirements, engineering costs and subcontracting options.
• Experience working closely with project delivery and industrial operations teams.
• The leadership presence to establish clear expectations, improve accountability and raise standards within an established team.
• Strong analytical, organisational and stakeholder management skills, with excellent English communication abilities.

This is an opportunity to make a tangible impact on how an established engineering function operates. You will have the scope to influence engineering strategy, strengthen systems and processes, optimise resources and shape the standards by which engineering performance is measured across the business.

The position will be titled Engineering Manager or Engineering Director, depending on the experience and seniority of the successful candidate.

If you are an experienced engineering leader looking for a broader functional role with the authority to drive meaningful operational improvement, we would welcome a confidential conversation.